EYFS: Listen and Play - Bobby Shafto

School Radio > EYFS > Listen and Play > Nursery Rhymes

In this episode listen for seaside sounds…and in the story something very unusual washes up on the beach.

Suggestions for use in the classroom

Listening for individual sounds
Encourage the children to listen to the sounds that Cat plays throughout the episode. Listen carefully, do you know what the sound is? What can you hear? What does it sound like? (waves/the sea) Can you add an action to the sound? How do you think waves would move?

Rhyme/song
Bobby Shafto’s gone to sea,
Silver buckles at his knee;
He’ll come back and marry me,
Bonny Bobby Shafto!

Bobby Shafto’s bright and fair,
Combing down his yellow hair;
He’s my love for evermore,
Bonny Bobby Shafto!

Adding Actions
Repeat the song and follow the instructions/encourage the children to join in adding actions as below.
• ‘Bobby Shafto’s gone to sea’ – move your hands like waves.
• Then Bobby Shafto has ‘silver buckles on his knee’ – tap your hands gently on your knees.
• And when we sing ‘Bobby Shafto’s bright and fair’, we will raise both hands and make a circle, like the sun.
• Then Bobby Shafto is ‘combing down his yellow hair’. For this, use a hand to pretend to comb your hair.
• And finally, when you hear the words ‘he’ll come back to marry me’, cross your hands across your chest.
Listen to the rhyme again and add some more actions of your own.

Story - Bobby Shafto
To hold attention and to help engage the children you can show pictures and artefacts, such as a boat, the sea, waves, seagulls, merman etc. On second listening, encourage the children to retell the story using the props to help with the story sequence.

Comprehension questions after story
What is a merman? What do you think he might look like? Why was the merman sad? Why couldn’t Bobby catch the moons reflection? How did the merman feel at the end of the story?

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